Routine
Display a sheet of white paper (8 ½ x 11) and ask your audience if they have ever made paper snowflakes. Tell the audience will make one for them now as you fold the paper into the proper snowflake cutting size.Once the paper is folded and you begin to make your cuts, talk about how each snowflake is a work of art and they all look different and special in their own way just like all of us.
Open up your paper and show the results. You now exclaim, “Although one snowflake itself is a work of art, it takes many snowflakes to build a snowman or blanket the ground and trees in a beautiful winter scene.”
Fold the paper back into quarters and tear into small pieces, at this time you bring out a folding fan, tell the audience, “When you bring many people together as a team to get a big job done, many snowflakes together you can build your snowman or cover the ground in a blanket of white for sledding.” Now begin to fan the pieces of paper upward, releasing a snowstorm of paper right before the eyes of your audience.
How it works
You will need a pair of scissors, a piece of plain white paper, the Wizard Blizzard Snowstorm, a folding fan such as the Break Away Fan (which you may use elsewhere in your performance).The Wizard Blizzard effect itself is quite simple; you have small packets of confetti that, when crumpled in the hand, fall like snowflakes once tossed in the air.
The Snowflake
If you can’t make a paper snowflake, please refer to your kindergarten art class.Seriously, it works best if you fold the paper down to eights and cut your snowflake.
The Set up and Switch
This whole routine can easily be worked from a small box on a tabletop.
*Paper, scissors, fan and snow gimmick go inside the box.
*Remove paper and scissors first and perform the snowflake-cutting portion of the routine.
*After you have folded the snowflake and torn it to pieces reach into box with empty hand to take out the fan. At the same time, place scissors in the box with the hand holding the torn snowflake, you will drop the scissors and pick up your gimmick with this hand.
*Finish the routine with the fanning method previously explained.
Holding the Snowstorm packet:
*Conceal the packet in your fingers.*Have the back of your hand to the audience with your thumb toward the floor.
*Hold the fan with the other hand directly below the hand concealing the packet.
*Start fanning so the air travels upward, and begin to crumble the packet to release the paper.
*Fan fast enough to move the paper up away from the hand but still allowing it to flutter down around you.
NOTE: Do not drop the torn pieces of snow flake, keep them concealed until you can pocket or otherwise discard them - the idea is that the paper is turning into the snowflakes.